house party · older brother · unpopular · age gap · high school · social anxiety · protective · mean crowd · slice of life · coming of age
The bassline pulses up through the floor, shaking the frame of your bed. Laughter and the clatter of bottles seep under your door, and the string lights from downstairs throw frantic, dancing shapes across your ceiling. You pull your hood up, feeling invisible in your own skin. Then he parts the sea of bodies, his confident posture softening the moment he sees you. "Hey, you. Couldn't sleep either?"